Tragically Hip Ticket Scalping Controversy.

[Malcolm]

   So Stef did a video not to long ago about Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip and his diagnosis with terminal brain cancer. 

   If your a fan of the Hip or live in Canada, you've probably heard of the controversy surrounding the ticket scalping of the shows of the band's final tour. If you haven't heard, basically because of the popularity of the band and the huge rush to see their last shows, it is a perfect opportunity for ticket scalpers to buy up tickets and sell them for enormous profits. Some tickets are going around ten times their original price. 

   This has caused a lot of anger from the fans towards scalpers, who couldn't get tickets for the show because they sold out in minute. Now they have to pay out the ear to scalpers if they want to go. I myself tried this morning to get tickets and they sold out within the first 20 minutes of the sale. The uproar of fans has cause headlines in Canada.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/tragically-hip-fans-disappointed-as-concerts-sell-out-in-minutes-1.2929847

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tragically-hip-presale-tickets-sold-out-1.3607493

http://www.moneysense.ca/news/the-tragically-hip-tickets-scalped-heres-how-its-done/

 

 A lot of people now are calling for the state to step in and "fix" the problem. This scares me. In Ontario ticket scalping was recently made legal. Now some people are talking about making it illegal again or bringing in price controls. In my frustration over the situation, even I have been a hard time trying to think of a  solution to the controversy. 

 

Is there a free market solution to this issue? Is there even a problem to begin with? Is scalping tickets wrong?

I'd love to hear anyones thoughts.

[Panacea27]

I don't see a problem at all. Either the tickets will sell out regardless or the scalpers will have to lower their prices until they do as it gets closer to the shows. Any artificial (violent) price fixing would cause a shortage, i.e. more people would want to purchase tickets than there are tickets available. The scalpers are actually solving a problem caused by the original ticket company undercharging relative to what the market will bear.

 

Then again, I don't expect anything different. A commitment to nonviolence in principle and basic understanding of economic principles truly does put us Ahead By A Century.